Alaska Trip: Day Eight: Metlakatla & Misty Fjords

Awoke to a steady rain, the first time during this cruise. As I headed to the deck, I saw what appeared to be a large port in the foggy distance. It turned out to be the recognizable Ketchikan, which was our end destination of our cruise. It so happens that both Metlakatla and Misty Fjords [...]

Alaska Trip: Day Seven: Frederick Sound & Petersburg

Got up around 5 a.m. this morning (sound familiar?). Showered and got ready for the day. When I arrived on deck, we were approaching the Five Fingers Lighthouse. While I ran across this lighthouse in my research, I was not initially impressed, due to the fact that the lighthouse did not have a working light, [...]

Alaska Trip: Day Six – Frederick Sound & Tracy Arm

With my alarm set for 5:30 a.m. this morning, I woke to one of the more beautiful sunrises I’ve ever seen. No time for a shower, I grabbed my camera and headed on deck.
The sunrise was still unfolding and getting better with each passing minute. At the same time, whale blows were happening at 9 [...]

Alaska Trip: Day Five – Sitka, AK

Wake up this morning was, um, early again (5:30 a.m.). We weren’t due into Sitka until around 10:00 a.m., however, I wanted to see our approach, as I we had never visited Sitka on past cruises.
When I got on deck, we were surrounded by forested pines under partly sunny skies. An Alaskan Marine Highway ferry, [...]

Alaska Trip: Day Four – Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Because we had been going continuously, and as this was a “day at sea,” we slept in a little. During those early hours, the ship had picked up a National Park Service ranger Linda and native interpreter Kevin, at Bartlett Cove, who would provide commentary and guidance on our exploration of Glacier Bay.
Once up (well, [...]

Alaska Trip: Day Three – Skagway & Haines

I got up at 5:00 a.m., to see our approach into Skagway. I’m naturally an early bird and like the tranquility in the early mornings. The scheduled wake-up call was at 6:15 a.m., with breakfast starting at 6:30 a.m.
Well, seeing was not going to be in the cards. our approach into Skagway was socked in [...]

Alaska Trip: Day Two-Juneau, AK & boarding the Spirit of Yorktown

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to walk around town taking pictures. I let Carol sleep in a bit. It was cloudy, but still dry.
My first point of interest was the restaurant I researched for breakfast, the Sandpiper Cafe. On the way, I past a building with a Tlingit crest and two totem poles. I [...]

Alaska Trip: Day One – Transit from Chicago, IL to Juneau, AK

The alarm rang at 3:00 a.m. this morning. Of course, with all the excitement, our internal alarm clocks got us up earlier. Having gotten to bed around 10:00 p.m. the evening before, that meant as usual, we were not well rested.
The taxi cab arrived on schedule at 4:15 a.m. to take us to the airport. [...]

Alaska Trip: Preface

This year, we were provided the opportunity to take a dream cruise, well, for one of us, at least. To find out more about that, please read on. We took an Alaska Inside Passage cruise aboard a small cruise ship, the Spirit of Yorktown, by Cruise West.
This trip would not have been possible without the [...]

Alaska Trip: We’re on our way…

This is it! Today is the long awaited day.
Headed to the airport. Will continue to provide detail starting on August 24th.